Rain fails to dampen drought

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2007 at 12:04 AM

By Lydia Seabol Avant Staff Writer

The bursts of rain that poured over the city Tuesday morning were welcome relief to the owner of Barton’s Landscaping.Buzz Barton said that this year has been the longest drought without relief that he can remember.“Anything we get right now is going to help," Barton said.“It’s not going to change our drought conditions, but we are going to get some moisture into the soil. And, as an added bonus, we get some cooling with this."While the rain that fell Tuesday did not do much to relieve the area’s drought conditions, the drops were soothing for local residents who have only seen traces of rain the last few months.The city of Tuscaloosa saw 0.65 of an inch of rainfall at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport between 9 a.m. and noon Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. That’s the most Tuscaloosa has seen in a while.“We’ve long waited for this. This is the good news we’ve gotten," said Jim Stefkovich, a meteorologist with the Birmingham office of the National Weather Service.Rainfall in West Alabama is about 15 to 17 inches below normal for the year.“This is not the end of the drought by far," Stefkovich said. “This is going to help the grass in the short term, but as far as our reservoirs, it’s not even going to make a dent."In recent weeks, grass has yellowed and leaves have wilted.Mary Jo Modica, horticulturist at the University of Alabama Arboretum, said that the shade provided by the clouds is almost as important to the plants as the rain.“It’s the combination of the rain and the cloud cover because it allows the plants to rest a little bit and not lose a tremendous amount of water from the blazing sun and heat," Modica said. “It is a nice start, but it is only a little drop."The next rainfall isn’t expected again until Sunday, and even then the rain is expected to be light and scattered, according to the National Weather Service. Saturday and Sunday are forecast to have a 20 percent chance of precipitation.“Unfortunately, this is going to do absolutely nothing for our long-term drought situation," Stefkovich said.Reach Lydia Seabol Avant at Lydia.seabol@tuscaloosanews or 205-722-0222.